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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Katie Weston

Charles Walker slams 'talentless people' in Liz Truss government and says 'go TODAY'

A senior Tory backbencher said he has had "enough of talentless people" in a blistering critique of his own party as he called for Liz Truss to step down as Prime Minister as soon as today.

Sir Charles Walker appeared furious as he gave an interview on Wednesday night amid farcical scenes in the Commons.

The former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee said he was "livid" about recent turmoil and warned that unless the party starts to "behave like grown-ups" then "perhaps 200" MPs could find themselves out of jobs.

Those who helped put Liz Truss into power as Prime Minister also have a lot to answer for, he added.

The senior backbencher said he was "livid" about recent turmoil (BBC)

Speaking after the Government defeated Labour's bid to ban fracking by 230 votes to 326, the Broxbourne MP told BBC News: "To be perfectly honest, this whole affair is inexcusable.

"It is a pitiful reflection on the Conservative Parliamentary Party at every level and it reflects really badly, obviously, on the Government of the day."

In a separate interview last night with BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight, he was asked how soon Truss should quit.

He said: "Well I hope, by tomorrow... She needs to go. She shouldn't have been made prime minister."

Liz Truss during Prime Minister's Questions yesterday (UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag)

Sir Walker added: "It's chaos and most of my colleagues have had enough. There may be thirty out there that still feel that somehow this shamble is recoverable.

"But about 330 of us have now given up all hope that the current PM can navigate her way out of this."

Asked what would happen if the PM refuses to quit, he added: "She will be removed then. I am in no doubt that she will be removed... We will find a mechanism."

The chaos erupted shortly before the vote at 7pm after climate minister Graham Stuart announced in the Commons chamber that, contrary to what MPs had been told earlier, it was not being treated as a vote of confidence in the Government of Liz Truss.

Until that point, Tory MPs had been on notice that they would have the whip withdrawn and be expelled from the parliamentary party if they failed to support the Government.

The Broxbourne MP said he has had "enough of talentless people" (PA)

Sir Charles told the BBC: "I've really not seen anything like tonight.

"What I understand is that we were on a confidence vote, which means if you voted against your Government, you'd lose the whip because, in essence, you were saying you had no confidence in the Government.

"Then at the despatch box, in the wind-up, the minister said it wasn't a confidence vote, which created chaos in the division lobbies. There was then a sort of 20-minute delay between the vote happening and the result being announced which, by the way, wasn't even close.

Sir Charles Walker appeared furious as he gave an interview last night (BBC)

"The Government won it by nearly 100 votes. But I just think the whole thing is extraordinary. And somewhere in between this, the vote being called and the result being announced, the chief whip resigned.

"But I just think the whole thing is extraordinary."

At that point rumours that the chief whip had resigned were not being officially denied, he added.

Sir Charles, MP for Broxbourne, said he is leaving Parliament voluntarily at the next general election.

Truss leaving 10 Downing Street on Wednesday (Getty Images)

He added: "Unless we get our act together and behave like grown-ups, I'm afraid many hundreds of my colleagues, perhaps 200, will be leaving at the behest of their electorate."

Asked if there is any coming back from this, Sir Charles, visibly angry, said: "I don't think so. And I have to say I've been of that view really since two weeks ago.

"This is an absolute disgrace. As a Tory MP of 17 years who's never been a minister, who's got on with it loyally most of the time, I think it's a shambles and a disgrace. I think it is utterly appalling. I'm livid."

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